The paper presents design and experimental verification of platform mechanism with cost-effective wire-based sensors for measuring of spatial displacement or pose of some moving object. This task, also known as spatial tracking, has a very wide application. The proposed mechanism, guided by the moving object, has a parallel structure with two platforms and at least six wire-based sensors for measuring distances between the platform points. Changes of the platform pose cause corresponding changes of the sensors' wire lengths. Forward position problem of an equivalent mechanism model with 6 degrees of freedom is described together with analyses of work space limitations and error propagation in a measurement system. A specific application is illustrated for tracking of a wheel knuckle of 5-link suspension mechanism used in passenger cars. The developed device has the following advantages: it can be installed in a wheel cavity; enables dynamic measurements on the road; is cost-effective. Performance of the latest prototype of the wire-based tracker was verified on the basis of measurements on a test rig, where two other measuring devices were used for comparison purposes.

This paper presents an estimation method for the spatial pose and displacement parameters of multi-rod suspension mechanism, based on measurement results by using wire sensors. Some changes of position and orientation of the platform fixed to wheel knuckle cause corresponding changes of sensors’ cable lengths. The fixation points of the cable sensors are selected with the collision-free conditions taken into account. Numerical example deals with platform poses and positioning of the sensors that satisfy the measurement conditions.